Samantha O
- Research Program Mentor
PhD at University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV)
Expertise
Psychology, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Neuroscience, Music Psychology, Neurodegeneration,Music Neuroscience, Dance, Hearing Loss, Speech Impairment, Development, Child Psychology, Behavioral Psychology, Music Therapy, Performance, Dance, Movement Therapy, Musical Groove (aka how we move to dance music), Mobile Apps
Bio
Hi! I'm Sam. I'm currently a postdoctoral fellow at the Bionic Ear Lab at USC. I got my PhD in Psychology in 2021 and am now gaining more experience to one day run my own research lab at a university. I study how hearing can be improved through a cochlear implant. My academic background is at the intersection of psychology, neuroscience, and music. I have also done research studying how music training improves the way we hear and think about the world and how our musical experiences shape our desire to move to music. I have also worked with people diagnosed with ADHD, children with reading disabilities, and older adults. Additionally, I have knowledge about working with a startup tech company and how to execute research from start to finish. Mostly, I love thinking deeply about how people think and act and would love to help you come up with creative ideas about how to study the way people interact with their everyday world. When not in the lab, I am an active violinist in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. I am a member of the Santa Monica Symphony and play weddings and parties all across the LA area. I am also a tap dancer and I enjoy cooking, running, hiking, traveling, eating at new restaurants, hanging out with her fiancé, Mike, and her adopted mutt, Molly.Project ideas
An Original Research Project
One of my favorite things to do is to creating research studies. Do you have an aching question about how humans behave that you would want to further explore? If so, what's the best way to do it? I'm here to help coach you through your own, original research project. Together, we could pursue your question using online surveys, in-person experiments, or observing how people interact with their environment. Once your data is collected, I can help you analyze your findings, craft a narrative of what you discovered, and publish the work online. Happy to work together to pursue something you are passionate about!
Scientific Writing
Much of what scientists do is figure out what has been done before. Once we know this information, we can come up with ways to pursue new research that fills the gap in what we don't currently know. We often do this through a literature review. If you are interested in a topic and want to take a deeper dive in knowing more about it, I can help you find scientific articles and write a review paper that lets other people know what has been researched on a certain topic. We can craft a scientific story together and publish the work online as a review article or a blog post. This is also helpful if you want to pursue your own, independent research and don't know where to start. It also is a great way to practice your writing skills.